Posted on Jan 30, 2021 in English Words of Encouragement, General | 178
Authority
Exorcism stories can always be a bit disjointed to read. We can understand and sympathize with other miracles of Jesus (control of the weather, feeding the hungry, healing the sick), but exorcism stories seem so distant and different. But there’s more to this story than Hollywood sees. This is a story about authority, and Jesus has it – authority in his teachings, authority in his actions, and authority over evil itself. But is the authority of Jesus one we recognize and to which we submit our lives, or does Jesus have to compete with other authorities?
Peace,
Chess
Our Worship this Week
Hymns for the Week
Be encouraged this week by these songs. You can find our playlist here on Spotify.
A Shield About Me (Zoe)
Great Are You Lord
The Voice of the Lord
Healing Grace
Make Me More Free
I Must Tell Jesus
All to Us
Read more...
Posted on Jan 23, 2021 in English Words of Encouragement, General | 144
Still Fishing
Scripture is full of callings – moments when God seems to redirect someone’s life by drafting them into service for the Kingdom of God. Mark 1:14-20, the calling of Peter, Andrew, James, and John, is one of those moments. However God isn’t redirecting their life as much as giving them a chance to use their life for God.
Peace,
Chess
Our Worship this Week
Hymns for the Week
Be encouraged this week by these songs. You can find our playlist here on Spotify.
The Lord is in His Holy Temple
A Mighty Fortress
Who Can Satisfy My Soul
God of Grace and God of Glory
Dear Lord and Father of Mankind
He Leadeth Me
When This Passing World is Done
This World is Not My Home
Read more...
Posted on Jan 16, 2021 in English Words of Encouragement, General | 172
Believing Until We See
When Jesus calls Nathanael to follow as a disciple, Nathanael believes in Jesus because Jesus knew he was sitting under a fig tree. We might expect Jesus to say, “Do you believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree? You should have believed without needing to test me.” However, Jesus raises the stakes and tells Nathanael that he will see even greater things yet.
Peace,
Chess
Our Worship this Week:
Hymns for the Week:
Be encouraged this week by these songs. You can find our playlist here on Spotify.
Speak, O Lord
Lord, You Are Greater Than My Heart
I Am Thine, O Lord
Footprints of Jesus
Where He Leads I’ll Follow
Lord, Take My Life
No Other Gods
Read more...
Posted on Jan 9, 2021 in English Words of Encouragement, General | 149
Seek and You Will Find
The story of the wise men seeking Jesus even at risk of their own lives is, for lack of a better term, legendary. They have easily gone down in history as some of the best examples of seeking Jesus. But is seeking Jesus a one-time event? Do we seek Jesus once, find him and then move on to seek after other goals, people, and agendas? Or is seeking Jesus a lifelong discipline?
Peace,
Chess
Our Worship this Week:
Hymns for the Week:
Be encouraged this week by these songs. You can find our playlist here on Spotify.
O Worship the King
The Voice of the Lord
O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing
This is My Father’s World
There’s A Sweet, Sweet Spirit in this Place
What the Lord Has Done in Me
Holy Spirit, Rain Down
Are You Washed in the Blood?
Read more...
Posted on Jan 2, 2021 in English Words of Encouragement, General | 148
Movement
Ephesians 1:3-14 might be one of the longest run-on sentences in scripture, but it is also packed full of descriptions of the work of Jesus. Paul mentions forgiveness, grace, redemption, adoption, the word of truth, inheritance of life, hope, glory, and redemption. Most striking of all, though, is “the mystery of God’s will… a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things to God.”
Peace,
Chess
Our Worship this Week:
Hymns for the Week:
Be encouraged this week by these songs. You can find our playlist here on Spotify.
10,000 Reasons
Surround Us, Lord
Blessed Assurance
Beautiful Star of Bethlehem
Love Divine, All Love Excelling
O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go
This is How We Overcome
Read more...
Posted on Dec 26, 2020 in English Words of Encouragement, General | 167
Children of God
Merry Christmas! For centuries, Christmas has been celebrated as a season, not just a day, and is the two weeks following Christmas day. During this time Christians historically take the opportunity to read and reflect on the incarnation of Jesus, and this week is no exception. Paul eloquently reminds us in Galatians that God sent his son to be born as a child so that we all might be counted as children of God.
Peace,
Chess
Our Worship this Week:
Hymns for the Week:
Be encouraged this week by these songs. You can find our playlist here on Spotify.
Praise the Lord, Ye Heavens Adore Him
Hallelujah, Praise Jehovah!
All People That on Earth Do Dwell
Tell Me the Story of Jesus
In Christ Alone
Come Ye Disconsolate
Go Tell It on the Mountain
Read more...
Posted on Dec 19, 2020 in English Words of Encouragement, General | 159
Kingdom Without End
As the year comes to an end, we naturally reflect on what has been and wonder about what is to come. When will it be my turn to get the vaccine? What will a new administration do to/for the country? When will we ever get back to “normal?” Amidst all of these questions and uncertainties, this birth announcement in Luke reminds us that Jesus and the Kingdom of God remain constant, steadfast, and sure for all time.
Our scriptures this week include the passage Chess is discussing, Luke 1:26-38, as well as 2 Sam 7:1-11, 16, Ps 89:1-4, 19-26, and Rom 16:25-27
We will be using this Order of Worship for our morning virtual services.
Our Worship this Week:
Hymns for the Week:
Be encouraged this week by these songs. You can find our playlist here on Spotify.
Come Thou Almighty King
Great is Thy Faithfulness
Shout to the Lord
Blessed Jesus, Come to Me
Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming
Magnificat
Of the Father’s Love Begotten
Joy to The World!
Amen!
Read more...
Posted on Dec 12, 2020 in English Words of Encouragement, General | 184
Of the many themes that run throughout the Bible, faithfulness is central. Not only are we called to be faithful to God and to have faith in God, but we are also to remember that God is faithful. So much of the Bible reminds us that God is faithful, even when we are not. Once again, then, this passage from 1 Thessalonians reminds us that God is faithful, specifically in regard to the return of Jesus and the sanctifying of God’s people.
Our scriptures this week include the passage Chess is discussing, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24, as well as Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11, Psalm 126, and John 1:6-8, 19-28
Our Worship this Week:
Hymns for the Week:
Read more...
Posted on Dec 5, 2020 in English Words of Encouragement, General | 214
Waiting in Peace
As we wait for Jesus to return and for him to bring us home to a new heaven and earth, where righteousness is at home, Peter encourages us to wait patiently and peacefully, reminding us that we have the time to find peace in all aspects of our lives – with the tragedies of our past, with unmet expectations and goals, with our failures, with those who have failed us, with our enemies, with our families, and with everything. We have been given the opportunity to wait, and Peter reminds us to wait with peace.
As you read 2 Peter 3:8-15a ask yourself these questions. Talk about them at your dinner table.
- How often do you think about the return of Jesus?
- What do you do while you wait?
- What does it mean to be found blameless when Jesus returns?
Our other scriptures for the week include:
Isaiah 40:1-11, Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13, Mark 1:1-8
We will be using this Order of Worship for our morning virtual services.
Our Worship this Week:
Hymns for the Week:
Read more...
Posted on Nov 28, 2020 in English Words of Encouragement, General | 178
As you wait
Advent is a season of longing and waiting. It is a time to remember that amidst all the things we are doing with our lives – our careers, our hobbies, our goals and plans – that we are a people who wait and long for the return of our savior. But unlike most waiting rooms, we do not wait alone. God is faithful and has strengthened us so that we might be found blameless on the day of Jesus’ return.
Questions:
- How often do you think about the return of Jesus?
- What do you do while you wait?
- What does it mean to be found blameless when Jesus returns?
Our other Scriptures this week:
Our Worship this Week:
Hymns for the Week:
Be encouraged this week by these songs. You can find our playlist on YouTube and Spotify.
Read more...
Posted on Nov 21, 2020 in English Words of Encouragement, General | 178
Return with Thanksgiving
Ten lepers are healed by Jesus, yet only one takes the time and effort to return to thank Jesus. How often do we return to thank God for the blessings, forgiveness, and very life that we live? This holiday season, at the end of a difficult year, perhaps it is hard to find reasons to be thankful, but God has already given us so many reasons to return with thanksgiving.
As you read Luke 17:11-19 ask yourself these questions. Talk about them at your dinner table.
- Do we limit thanksgiving to received blessings, or do we remember to be thankful for the works of God we might otherwise take for granted (i.e., forgiveness, life, and love)?
- Do we remember to give thanks when life does not go our way?
- What daily habits can we nurture to help us return with thanksgiving?
Our other scriptures for the week include:
Deut 8:7-18; Psalm 65; 2 Cor 9:6-15
Peace,
Chess
Read more...
Posted on Nov 14, 2020 in English Words of Encouragement, General | 193
We look forward to seeing you in our service. To participate via Zoom (and see, visit and encourage each other) click here to
request the link. If you prefer to just view via YouTube, you will find the service
streaming here on our YouTube channel. Please let us know you joined us by filling out our
Welcome Card
Live with God
As children of the light, Paul outlines what life is like while we wait for the expected return of Jesus. Armored with faith, love, and salvation, Paul reminds us that we are destined for salvation, not wrath, so that we might live our lives with God.
As you read I Thessalonians 5:1-11 ask yourself these questions. Talk about them at your dinner table.
-
- How often do we feel God’s salvation compared to God’s wrath? Is God’s wrath an active, fearful part of your relationship with God?
- What does living with God look like, practically speaking? Is it more than simply obeying commands?
- How might we do as Paul asks and encourage one another with these words?
Our other scriptures for the week include:
Judges 4:1-7; Psalm 123; Matthew 25:14-30
Read more...
Posted on Nov 7, 2020 in English Words of Encouragement, General | 178
We look forward to seeing you in our service. To participate via Zoom (and see, visit and encourage each other) click here to
request the link. If you prefer to just view via YouTube, you will find the service
streaming here on our YouTube channel. Please let us know you joined us by filling out our
Welcome Card
Encourage One Another
As Christians were dying from persecution, they began to lose hope and confidence in their faith. So, Paul reminds them to encourage one another with the hope that no matter what happens in this life, Christ is triumphant for all of eternity. We are certainly not in the same position of persecution as those of Thessalonica, but we can still draw encouragement from the hope of eternal life.
As you read I Thessalonians 4:13-18 ask yourself these questions. Talk about them at your dinner table.
- What threatens our hope and confidence in our faith?
- How do these words encourage us?
- How can we use these words to encourage one
another?
Our other scriptures for the week include:
Joshua 24:1-3a, 14-25; Psalm 78:1-7; Matthew 25:1-13
Read more...
Posted on Oct 30, 2020 in English Words of Encouragement, General | 196
Please let us know you joined us by filling out our
Welcome Card
Kingdom and Glory
God’s word was made flesh and sent to live among us, working in us to call us into God’s kingdom and glory, but what will we do with this word? Will we let it transform us into the image of God, or will we limit and edit the word of God? Will we live a life worthy of God?
As you read I Thessalonians 2:9-13 ask yourself these questions. Talk about them at your dinner table.
- In what ways is the word of God working among and in us?
- In what manner do we accept the word of God? With welcome and zeal or hesitancy and reluctance?
- In what ways are we called into God’s kingdom and glory today?
Our other scriptures for the week include:
Sing with Us:
While we cannot sing in our in-person worship, we can be united in mind and heart by listening to and singing the same songs while we are apart.
You can find our playlist for this week
here:
Other Key Links:
Read more...
Posted on Oct 21, 2020 in English Words of Encouragement, General | 185
Please let us know you joined us by filling out our
Welcome Card
Sharing
In chapter one, Paul writes of sharing the gospel in word and power, and in chapter two the concept is elaborated by adding the sharing of ourselves. It is not enough to share the content of the gospel; we must also share ourselves, which requires an uncommon vulnerability.
As you read I Thessalonians 2:1-8 ask yourself these questions. Talk about them at your dinner table.
What is the connection between sharing of self and sharing the gospel?
How can we share ourselves?
How can we share ourselves and the gospel during the pandemic?
Our other scriptures for the week include:
Read more...
